Did Kanter get a promise from the Raptors?

Pure speculation on my part, however, it looks like he might not be working out with the Wiz who hold the #6 pick.

The Washington Wizards have the No. 6 pick in the draft and they could use a center/power forward like Enes Kanter, but so for they do not have him on the schedule.

"Listen, we like Washington. I haven't heard anything from them," agent Max Ergul told The Washington Post. "I guess they know he's not going to be there at six. So, until they do something about it, it seems like they are not going to give me a call for workout."

Kanter would like to play with John Wall, but it won't happen unless the Wizards can use the No. 6 pick and No. 18 pick to move up into the top four.

Kanter is set to meet with Toronto on Monday, Cleveland on Tuesday and Minnesota next week.

Even if they didn't I think it's safe to assume Kanter isn't falling past both Cleveland and Toronto. One of the two is taking him at 4 or 5 if he isn't already gone. Especially now that his health has checked out. There really aren't any big stop signs on this guy to make him fall out of the top 5.

Read the quote you posted, Washington has not contacted them, he has not refused a workout with the Wiz, how does that turn into speculation that Toronto has promised him he wont slip past 5, I don't even see the logic.

Read the quote you posted, Washington has not contacted them, he has not refused a workout with the Wiz, how does that turn into speculation that Toronto has promised him he wont slip past 5, I don't even see the logic.

I think he's trying to say that maybe the Wiz know something we don't.

Read the quote you posted, Washington has not contacted them, he has not refused a workout with the Wiz, how does that turn into speculation that Toronto has promised him he wont slip past 5, I don't even see the logic.

agreed... the thread title is kinda misleading.. could easily be "Has Kanter refused to play in the NBA and join a Chinese league team if he isn't picked in the top 5?"

Read the quote you posted, Washington has not contacted them, he has not refused a workout with the Wiz, how does that turn into speculation that Toronto has promised him he wont slip past 5, I don't even see the logic.

Right.. and the first thing I said in my post was:

Pure speculation on my part

My interpretation from it is that the Wizards who hold the #6 pick and Kanter who has said that he would like to play for Washington know that he'll be selected before then and could be the reason why they haven't contacted him for a workout. Who holds the pick before the Wizards? Toronto - and we know that there has been a lot of news regarding the Raps and how they'd like to get their paws on Kanter. Like I said before, there's nothing factual about it, just loose speculation on my part.

Realizing that this is completely contingent on how much Washington likes him, but do you guys think there's any chance that the Raptors could trade Kanter to the Wizards, for say, the 6th pick and Javale McGee? McGee is in his final year prior to becoming a restricted free agent, and they already have Blatche locked in for the next 4 years. McGee reminds me a bit of a young Tyson Chandler (immaturity included).

Pure speculation on my part, however, it looks like he might not be working out with the Wiz who hold the #6 pick.

There is so much posturing at this point. Teams work out players they have no intention of drafting to get other teams worried.
If I were to make a bet on which player drops below projected slot in this draft it would be Enes.

Starting to get a little bit worried about this guy. Draft Express was just posting on Twitter that he's watching tape from a year and a half back and saying that Kanter never got back to play D and never bent his knees. I know the tape is a year and a half ago, but still...

Starting to get a little bit worried about this guy. Draft Express was just posting on Twitter that he's watching tape from a year and a half back and saying that Kanter never got back to play D and never bent his knees. I know the tape is a year and a half ago, but still...

I would post the link but Twitter is blocked at work.

A fair concern but he was 17 at that time. I would imagine most young players, regardless of geographic location, need these things taught. Really good players, especially at a young age, tend to coast on ability until they start playing against those with similar abilities on a regular basis. This is not just for Kanter, this is for many young players (remember we're talking high school age players).

I think we should be a bit worried about this guy. I'm not sure he can be as bad a stiff as a guy like Araujo, but it's still worth considering how big he's been so young and how much that advantage might disappear if he actually isn't quick enough on his feet, or long enough to guard on the block. Not sure he's a higher potential pick or better fit than a PG like Knight or Walker.

Let me say that while I'm worried I do think he's worth taking a gamble on. Personally I'd rather pick Knight or Walker up, but I'll admit Kanter makes a great asset. If he's a legit big who is as good as advertised and can play the 5, he's an obvious keeper. If he's not, I think you trade him early as he would be a very interesting piece to package in a trade. Even then he's probably a guy teams will be calling about for a couple of years even if he underachieves.

Starting to get a little bit worried about this guy. Draft Express was just posting on Twitter that he's watching tape from a year and a half back and saying that Kanter never got back to play D and never bent his knees. I know the tape is a year and a half ago, but still...

I would post the link but Twitter is blocked at work.

Not sure what game they watched, but from what I've seen from him, he didn't have a problem running back on defense or getting into a stance. Everything I've seen and read is that while defense isn't one of his great strengths, it's not a weakness, either. And he's very competitive, too, which is important to be a good defender.

I think we should be a bit worried about this guy. I'm not sure he can be as bad a stiff as a guy like Araujo, but it's still worth considering how big he's been so young and how much that advantage might disappear if he actually isn't quick enough on his feet, or long enough to guard on the block. Not sure he's a higher potential pick or better fit than a PG like Knight or Walker.

Let me say that while I'm worried I do think he's worth taking a gamble on. Personally I'd rather pick Knight or Walker up, but I'll admit Kanter makes a great asset. If he's a legit big who is as good as advertised and can play the 5, he's an obvious keeper. If he's not, I think you trade him early as he would be a very interesting piece to package in a trade. Even then he's probably a guy teams will be calling about for a couple of years even if he underachieves.

Knight and Walker are just as big gambles as Kanter. Is Knight a PG? Can Walker contribute when he's not dominating the ball and chucking up shots, which he wouldn't be able to do on a good team?

Personally, I think Kanter is the safer pick, despite how little we've seen from him. I think his worst case scenario is better than Knight and Walker's, and his best case scenario is probably better.

I think we should be a bit worried about this guy. I'm not sure he can be as bad a stiff as a guy like Araujo, but it's still worth considering how big he's been so young and how much that advantage might disappear if he actually isn't quick enough on his feet, or long enough to guard on the block. Not sure he's a higher potential pick or better fit than a PG like Knight or Walker.

1. Araujo should not be used in any comparison with Kanter. Kanter is as skilled as Araujo was unskilled. The only real similarities are size and skin color.

2. If you mean he might not play at the same level because he won't have the same length advantage, fine, but know that his standing reach compared just fine to the average center in DX's measurement database (Kanter @ 9'1.5" vs Average @ 9'1.4"), and though his wingspan was 1.3" less than the average, that's two-thirds of an inch less extension on each arm. To put that in perspective, an unclipped nail would cover much of that difference.

3. We actually have a decent sense of his quickness. While competitive play would be a better measure, I doubt he'd be much slower in a real game. At the combine, Kanter's performance in the 3/4 sprint and the lane agility tests was comparable to the average SF performance, and put him ahead of most PFs and Cs in the database.

My interpretation from it is that the Wizards who hold the #6 pick and Kanter who has said that he would like to play for Washington know that he'll be selected before then and could be the reason why they haven't contacted him for a workout. Who holds the pick before the Wizards? Toronto - and we know that there has been a lot of news regarding the Raps and how they'd like to get their paws on Kanter. Like I said before, there's nothing factual about it, just loose speculation on my part.

I have no idea why they haven't arranged the workout, except that perhaps it's another case of someone having not done something YET being reported as news (by Borges). Even if the Wizards found out that the Raptors had given Kanter a promise, it wouldn't matter unless 1) the Wizards have taken a completely defeatist attitude regarding the possibility of trading up, or 2) the Wizards just don't want Kanter. There's just way too much time and too many possibilities for the Wizards to not do their due diligence. I'm willing to bet a workout gets scheduled for later.

1. Araujo should not be used in any comparison with Kanter. Kanter is as skilled as Araujo was unskilled. The only real similarities are size and skin color.

2. If you mean he might not play at the same level because he won't have the same length advantage, fine, but know that his standing reach compared just fine to the average center in DX's measurement database (Kanter @ 9'1.5" vs Average @ 9'1.4"), and though his wingspan was 1.3" less than the average, that's two-thirds of an inch less extension on each arm. To put that in perspective, an unclipped nail would cover much of that difference.

3. We actually have a decent sense of his quickness. While competitive play would be a better measure, I doubt he'd be much slower in a real game. At the combine, Kanter's performance in the 3/4 sprint and the lane agility tests was comparable to the average SF performance, and put him ahead of most PFs and Cs in the database.

No one's seen him play a game of significance for quite a long time now. Combine measurements should always be taken with a grain of salt as it is just a random set of stats from one day. Some guys could have a bad day, some a good day. An enormous amount of scouting goes into the draft process, and the fact that Kanter's reach is slightly longer than expected won't factor into the decision to draft him by any team. I think in a stronger draft he would slide a few spots because of the lost year, but because he's a big and it's a weak draft, he'll definitely be a top 5 pick.

Also, I think you misunderstand my comparison, I chose "hoffa" mostly because Araujo is a posterboy for stiff Cs. Could have chosen POB, or Yogi Stewart. To put the importance of that into perspective, I'd even consider Kevin Love a stiff. He's a 5th overall pick and a 20-15 guy, but man do his feet stay still on D. Even a slightly less stiff guy like David Lee is still a terrible defender. It's one thing if a guy tests quickness well, it's another if he naturally responds that way to action on the court.